A majority of Tree Giveaway participants felt the event was seemless. There is a lot going on behind the scenes to make it so.
Most involved reported finding the event gratifying. After all, each tree is improving air quality, increasing land value, and contributing positively to quality of life. (For more about tree benefits check out our Denton tree initiative page.)
Tree giveaway volunteers arrive at 6 a.m. to help the event go smoothly.
Everyone gathers around,
and is instructed about their jobs for the day.
The event is held at the City of Denton Landfill. The entire drive-through takes an estimate of 20 minutes.
This time isn’t idle, though; enthusiastic volunteers answer questions about planting, sell t-shirts, and interview drivers.
We even have a tree expert (treexpert?) on hand to answer planting questions. Meet Steve Geer from Tree Shepherds!
Once a volunteer has verified your registration, they direct you to the proper pick up line to recieve your tree.
Then, they load your tree in the back of your vehicle, no matter the size.
Participants receive tree care package, including a tree planting handbook and a coupon for free Dino Dirt.
Our t-shirts this year were ‘shady’. If you would like your own, check out our ‘Shop’ page.
Tree Giveaway is KDB staff’s favorite event, and we think the community loves it too. But don’t take our word for it. Here’s what they had to say.
For some, it’s a way of leaving a positive mark on the Earth, like Molly Pitcher, an advisor for UNT’s college of science. It was her first time at Tree Giveaway for a tree for her new home because she wants to “do something that makes this home my own.” She thinks that the community giveaway exemplifies that the Denton community as a bastion for the environment. (not pictured)
Some planters anticipate the event for months ahead of time, like Roy Gonzales, a jazz musician from UNT. He woke up early on registration day because he wanted a Little Gem Magnolia. His early alarm clock paid off, and he was excited to receive his tree.
Tree Giveaway is a family friendly event,
and pet friendly, too!
Woody Evans, a librarian at TWU, says Tree Giveaway is a good example of the character of Denton. He compared it to a quote by Joe Biden: “don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.”
The last cars begin arriving at 11 a.m..
All the moving and grooving that the volunteers do,
is sure to work up quite an appetite.
Thankfully, Palio’s pizza donated enough food to nourish the masses.

The Community Tree Giveaway was a success! We love hearing your stories. If you had a good experience with tree giveaway or your own tradition, please email sam@kdb.org to share your our story and a photo with your tree, or if you would like a photograph taken of you at the event. If you’re interested in volunteering, mark your calendar for the volunteer registration next September. And, of course, the next Community Tree Giveaway registration opens mid September 2018, so don’t miss it. Thank you Wesley Kirk from The Beautiful Vision and KDB intern Samantha Hardisty for the photography.

October 20th was the Pre-Event Workday that we have every year in preparation for the Community Tree Giveaway. With the help of some awesome volunteers, we tag each individual tree with a personalized identification tag and sort all of the trees by species and participant last name. This year, we had approximately 700 trees to sort and tag. Can you imagine how long that would take KDB’s tiny staff of three people? The Our volunteers were so amazing and kicked it into gear as soon as they arrived. What we had planned would take 4 hours, actually took 3! That’s how hard these individuals worked. We couldn’t do what we do without the help of our amazing volunteers!

This year we also piloted these custom-made tree boxes, made of old pallets taken to the landfill. The Solid Waste Dept. created these with the Tree Giveaway in mind, because the wind tends to blow our trees over before the event on Saturday. Since they on pallets, we were also able to move them with a fork lift! This was a major time-saver this year!